Auxiliary bag for vacuum cleaners



M. E. EVANS' AUXILIARY BAG FOR VA GUUM CLEANERS Jafi. 30, 1940.

Filed Sept. 19. 1939 INVENTOR; M000 E fr4x7s 6212mm! ORNEY.

UNITED STAT PATENT ferric-E .iauxmanr me For. vacuum cums Maud E.Detroit, Mich. Application summ- 19; 19:9. Serial No. 295,635

. com.

This invention relates to "acuum sweepers and has particular referenceto a auxiliary bag which may be readily. attached to vacuum sweepers. ofany makeor model.- I

Medical authorities who have studied the problem, report that manydiseases are caused by people inhaling the dust and germs which havebeen picked up and blown into the air by the modern vacuum cleaners.

A close examination of the. air discharged through the walls of thefilter bag of almost any vacuum sweeper will disclose a surprisingly.large amount of fine dust and dirt, and other deleteriqous elements. Itmust follow, therefore, that 15 germs are also carried through the wallsof the bag into the airwhich is breathed.

It is, therefore, one of the objects of this invention to eliminate mostof the resulting dust and to greatly improve the sanitary aspects ofusing a a vacuum sweeper. w I

It is an object of the invention to provide an auxiliary bag for vacuumcleaners, which .is adaptedtotrap most of the fine dust particles whichnow escape from the conventional vacuum a cleaner bag.,

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter referred to, which is provided with a germicidal mediumintended to render harmless the ,greater proportion of the )0 dangerousgerms ands microbes picked up and blown into the air 4 ough the walls ofthe present vacuum cleaner bags.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparentas the description 35 pmceedareference beingmade from time to time tothe accompanying drawing forming part of this disclosure, in whichdrawing:

Fig. 1 is a view, with parts broken away and partly in section, showingone of my improved auxiliary bags in position on a conventional cleaner.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2-2 otFig; 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view bf one of the spacers used onmy bag.

Fig. 4 is-an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a strip from which thespacer, illustrated in Fig. 3, is made. V Fig. 5 is a plan view of oneof the sheets of material! from which the bag is formed. This view showsthe manner in which the sheet is perforated and treated with a tackygermicidal substance, and the position rators when attached.

gm.8isanendviewofthesheet,'illuatratedin assumed by the sepa-' ,Fig. 5.illustrating the manner in which the taclw furface of the sheet iscovered to facilitate the handling of the sheet in transportation.

Fig. 7 is an end view of the sheet, illustrated in Fig. 5, with theseparators in position.

Fig. 8 is'a modified form of my device. Fig. 9 is a sectional view takensubstantially on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8. 4

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it will be seen that inthe embodiment herein l0 disclosed (Fig. 1), 1 illustrate my auxiliarybag I! in position on a conventional vacuum sweeper J3, the filter bagof which is indicated by the reference character I. In this embodiment,the upper end of the bag I! is secured in position by 1i! means of thespring clip it, which is part of the standard equipment of thisparticular make of sweeper. It will be understood, however, that theupper end ofthe bag may be closed by means of a tie string,"such as isillustrated at H, which 0 closes the lower end of the bag and secures itto the sweeper I3.

, As illustrated in Fig. 1, I propose to entirely' envelop theconventional sweeper bag I4, with 'my auxiliary bag I2. I do this sothat I may trap 25 such dust particles and other substances as might beforced through the walls of the bag 14.

My auxiliary bag I2 is preferably made of a single sheet of material(Fig. 5) which may either be a porous fabric or paper, provided with aplurality of minutelperforations l8, through which the air may bepermitted to escape. The inner :urface of the bag If is coated with atacky subtance l9 throughout a substantial portion of its area, exceptat the top 20 and the bottom 2| where the closure elements engage. Thetacky substance 19 has incorporated with it a germicidal agentwhich isintended to kill any germs with which it comes in contact. The tacky andgermicidal substances extend throughout the major part of the innersurface of the auxiliary bag, so that substantially all of the air whichis blown through the inner bag ll of the vacuum cleaner comes in contactwith the taclw and germicidal elements before it escapes from the bagl2; whereby, practically all of the dust particles, germs and otherforeign particles are caused to adhereto the inner surface of theauxiliary bag before the air escapes into the room where the sweeper isbeing used.

The sheet of material from which the bag is. formed, is provided with anadhesive substance along the area indicated at 22, so that the sheet Imay be rolled into a cylinder and secured as illustrated in Fig. 2. Inorder to prevent'the tacky substance on the inner surface of the bag l2from comingv in contact with the outer surface of the bag I4, I providea plurality of separators 23. These separators are preferably made ofcomparatively stifi paper, scored as indicated at 24 in Fig. 4, so thatthey may be bent into theform illustrated in Fig. 3. These separatorsare then secured to the inner surface of the sheet comprising the bag l2along thedotted lines 25 (Fig. 5); The fiat surfaces of. the separators22 are held in position by means of the adhesive quality of the tackysubstance I9.

In order to facilitate the handling and storing of the sheets, I preferto treat the inner surface of the sheets and then. cover the innersurface with a plain piece ofpaper 12a (Fig. 6). In this manner thesheets may be shipped fiat, and when ready to be assembled the sheet.l2a. may be removed from the treated sheet l2; whereupon the sheet isthen ready to have the separators attached and to be rolled into acylinder, and attached to the sweeper as hereinabove described.

This auxiliary bag may; be removed and destroyed when the tacky surfacewill no longer accommodate any more dust particles.

In Fig. 8, I illustrate a modified form of my device, wherein I providea bag having a double thickness. In this modification, the outer member26 and the inner member 21 are perforated as indicated at 28. In thisembodiment the inner member 21 may be of a substantially more rigidmaterial than the .outer member 25. The member 21 is formed with fiaredends as at 29, so that a space 30 is provided between the members. Thespace 30 is then filled with a suitable filter material 3|, which hasbeen impregnated with a -my invention, it will be understood thatcertain modifications may be made to accomplish the jsame results, allof which are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A cover for a vacuum sweeper filter bag, comprising a sheet ofmaterial having means for theescape of air therethrough, said sheethaving 5 an area treated with a tacky and gemiicidal substance, saidarea being provided with a plurality of spacers adapted to prevent thecontact of the tacky substance with the filter bag, and said sheethaving an adhesive substance along at least one edge thereof.

2. A cover for a vacuum sweeper bag, comprising two or more sheets ofmaterial adapted to permit the passage of air therethrough, there beinga filter material disposed between said sheets, said filter materialbeing impregnated with a tacky germicidal substance.

3. The device defined in claim 2, wherein the outer sheet is longerthanthe inner sheet or sheets, and the long ends of said outer sheet areadapted to serve as closure elements for the cover.

4. A device of the character described, comprising an envelope arrangedin cooperation with the filter bag of a vacuum sweeper, said envelopeconsisting of one or more sheets of material being pervious to airthroughout substantially the entire area, said sheet or'sheets beingadapted to hold a tacky .germicidal substance throughout substantiallyall of the pervious area. 30

5. A device as defined in claim 4, there being means to prevent thetaclq substance from coming in contact with said filter bag. L

6. A cover for a vacuum sweeper filter bag comprising a sheet ofmaterial, perforated, and g treated with a tacky germicidal substancethroughout substantially all of its inside area, there being spacerspositioned on the inside of said sheet, adapted to cooperate with thesaid sheet and said filter bag to prevent the tacky m germicidalsubstance from coming in contact with the said filter bag.

' MAUD E. EVANS.

